Movie Review: Murder for Pleasure

The only time I care about cereal killing is on those mornings when I wake to find that my box of generic Frosted Flakes is empty. Writer-director Derek Braasch’s early hours, however, find him more interested in the mind of a surprisingly vicious serial killer named Victor in his latest feature film, Murder for Pleasure.

What is, perhaps, most gratifying about this bloody dive into the mind of a sadist is how Braasch, and his co writers Anthony Pellizzeri and Mike Miller, capture, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the mindset of an unbending patriarchic male with their lead character.Victor, quietly and thoroughly played by Nick Bender, attacks his victims for their supposed sins – promiscuity, homosexuality, lack of romantic interest in him, abortion – with the fervor of the religious right. It is a portrait of unchecked masculinity that is surprisingly representative of our current and often violent, misogynistic culture.

Beneath the copious amounts of gore and symbolic torture porn, Braasch also supplies some truly striking visual moments – a scene of watery child abuse is potent and a dream sequence that spells the end of Victor’s latest, unrealistic coupling is full of languid purpose, as well. In fact, Braasch works with a nightmarish quality throughout the film’s running time, creating an almost unreal universe where Victor’s crimes are never punished.

A bit too meandering at times, with major characters and motivations sometimes revealed far too late in the proceedings, Murder for Pleasure is still an ambitious project that lovers of cinema about unrepentant murderers will probably find very enjoyable.